COVID19 Factors We Should Consider/Current Events

[David A. Rowe]

Let's get back to the cops, Dave. They are the face of this government shit, and they seem to have the same perspective on it that a guy at McDonald's has for his hamburger patties. You're not one of them, I think, but you worked with them and you know them. Who are they, and why do they behave this way?

Glowing endorsement for me, Rip. In all seriousness, I should hope that my character distinguishes me from them as much as yours does you.


I haven't personally worked with someone like that, but I occasionally hear about them. Rarely. It's been more closely associated with my experience working with groups like the Afghan Nation Army or Afghan National Police. Or the customs officers in Germany (absolutely humorless bunch).

Some things I have observed in no particular order:
-The vast majority of humans, when given authority, will readily abuse it. Many seem to enjoy it.
-Being in law enforcement is isolating. Even if the officer doesn't self isolate among peers or completely, everyone -- EVERYONE -- in their life will treat them differently. This inevitably leads to detachment from others whether intended or not.
-It takes a tremendous amount of both character and maturity to be able to walk the fine line between imposing enough authority to do the job effectively and not overstepping. It's also subject to chaos, lack of information, mistakes, fatigue, etc. Most of all it takes humility.
-Most of these abuses are encouraged by particular ideologies, and those ideologies are strongly ethnic. It's not shocking to me that these happen more readily in urban areas. The mentality of those living in the "urban press" of a post industrialization society loses appreciation for civility and the dignity of human life faster than a small rural community.
-Popularization and the reinforcement it brings. You see it on the news. Doesn't matter the objective numbers and truth of the situation, its prominence takes precedent.
-A small number of entrenched admin can entirely change an agency in a few months or years. For more on this, I recommend Shawn Ryan's podcast with Blake Cook. (Linked below)

The one I'm most familiar with is salary and benefits, though. Generally, law enforcement is grossly underpaid for what is required of the individual. This not only drastically shrinks the pool of candidates, but it leaves you with essentially two kinds: the ones who want to do it for the right reasons and the ones who want to do it for the wrong reasons. A lack of competition and pressure from government and citizens pressures agencies into filling billets with "hopefully good enough" candidates leads to settling for questionable warm bodies. A lack of officers also burns out "the good ones" even faster because the call and case load is the same.

There is no good answer in most cases due to the tax base required to properly fund, staff, train an retain officers.

As if to illustrate, I was recently targeted by ads (I assume due to my metrics) for Portland Police Department offering bonuses and $100k+. Now, suddenly, white male veterans are back on the menu in Portland.

https://youtu.be/wVissBPnY_w?si=qbiG1HxNqvLm4vFX

[Mark Rippetoe]

Thanks Dave, that's a measured, thoughtful response.

[AndyJ]

Not as weird say as adding perhaps two more stars to the US flag.

We don't *have* add more stars. We could adopt a different flag entirely. Maybe just one star for everybody. Or return to one of the early flag designs.

[wal]

Re: The Fires in LA. You people have a serious problem, in that you seem unable to distinguish between imagined problems -- like your pronouns -- and real problems, like your houses burning down. The "burning" question is: Can you reverse course in the face of unforgiving reality?

https://x.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1877046767755084027

https://x.com/AmyMek/status/1876914202549662176

https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status...82818796237258


You have lakes with water in them, but you have pipes with no water in them, and a Water Department whose head employee has very nice teeth and little else. And your Fire Department is run like a social justice program. And you remain in California.

I saw the interview with the LA Mayor and the Water resources manager and the low level of water she stated was the draw on hydrants was too high for the reservoirs to catch up, only 20% of Hydrants had no water in any case these outlets were never designed to fight wild wires only domestic house fires, well that is what she stated.

This is just a guess, but if the fires are getting worse it is due to a number of problems which are man made such as mismanagement of forest resources such as not clearing fire breaks, not burning off excess forest undergrowth, allowing folk to build homes in fire prone areas, poor road infrastructure where theses home are built i.e. roads too narrow to provide emergency egress, power line companies not clearing undergrowth under high voltage power lines down power line corridors, poor fault control of fallen power lines,(this is not unlike the fires in Maui which were due to poor power line management), allowing "green" folk to manage state parks and other major infrastructure, not enough water storage.

When you add all this up you have the conditions which these folk are now enduring.

[Mark Rippetoe]

That's charitable, wal. Here's a different perspective: Hollywood burns and I don't give a damn

But for the most part, I simply do not give a crap about the rest of the Hollywood trash. Does that sound mean or even vicious to you? I certainly hope so, because these scumbags have been looking down their noses at people like us for a very long time. For many years, they have lived in their elite enclaves, separated from the rest of us as they looked down on us and spewed whatever retarded political narratives they had floating around in their drug- and booze-addled minds.

Many of these people are multi-millionaires or even billionaires. They have, for a very long time, used their wealth and celebrity status to spit in the face of working-class people, spewing whatever woke garbage is in vogue at the moment. How many times have we seen these assholes on social media, TV, etc. acting holier-than-thou and presuming to lecture the rest of us on what is morally acceptable and what is not?

And the people of California will continue to vote for These People: https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status...72507868610830

Insightful: https://x.com/thatsKAIZEN/status/1877077864341766608

[wal]

That's charitable, wal. And the people of California will continue to vote for These People

Yes I know, but not all of them do. Scattered among some of these morons there are good people and you have to consider those fire fighters who regardless of the political persuasions of Californians risk there own lives to save their properties and their lives, they cannot help what type of idiots are in control, in a fire everybody is treated the same good or bad.

But, yes you put fools in charge and that increases the scale of the potential hazard and in this case in LA is no different than what we have experienced here when people want to live in fire prone areas and not do controlled burns in the off season, who will not cut down trees near their homes, who will not cut fire breaks for the sake of the "environment" you might get away with it for a while until.............

We don't *have* add more stars. We could adopt a different flag entirely. Maybe just one star for everybody. Or return to one of the early flag designs.

You mean like the Texas flag or like the North Korean flag?

[Tyler Woodruff]

https://x.com/NapoleonBonabot/status...908304867?s=19

You're welcome.

[Mark Rippetoe]

But, yes you put fools in charge and that increases the scale of the potential hazard and in this case in LA is no different than what we have experienced here when people want to live in fire prone areas and not do controlled burns in the off season, who will not cut down trees near their homes, who will not cut fire breaks for the sake of the "environment" you might get away with it for a while until.............

It is very different, because in this case the State of California prohibits the very basic maintenance you refer to here. California is run by children and their babysitters.

[wal]

It is very different, because in this case the State of California prohibits the very basic maintenance you refer to here. California is run by children and their babysitters.

If they were children Mark they would be innocent, the folk you are referring to are downright deceptive and the outcome of their rule is destruction. Australia especially here on the east coast is highly fire prone, however these "green" folk who now occupy most of the authorities responsible for the environment (and here also) will save a tree and loose a forest or in this case a whole city. How many times have I seen a huge Gum tree come crashing through a house because the local councils will not remove them, but what a price to pay for Californians to find this out, the effects of the fires could have been mitigated if they treated forest and grasslands as potential fire hazards rather than a green paradise. The next state and local elections there will have a different outcome and the palisades will be a no go zone for further housing development.

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn."

[Jason Donaldson]

The next state and local elections there will have a different outcome and the palisades will be a no go zone for further housing development.

Well, you say that, but the preponderance of that state's history says otherwise.